The purpose of this study is to identify and address the barriers facing international students withdisabilities at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Specifically, this study addresses thebarriers international students face in accessing health services on campus. As a collaborative projectbetween the two UBC departments: the School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) andthe Access & Diversity (A&D) Office, the research findings are intended for both parties. Inparticular, the findings in this study are meant to: to help the A&D office better understand thebarriers to health services on campus; provide recommendations for enhanced inclusion and to assistthe A&D office in their advocacy efforts towards policy advancement and improved service delivery.We employed a case study research methodology. The flexible nature of this exploratory studyallowed the researchers to go in more depth through the semi-structured interviews to inquire abouthow and why the identified barriers are so problematic. We recruited three participants for the study,all of whom were international students and male. We conducted a total of four interviews with threeparticipants; one participant was interviewed twice for further clarification of the data and for anelaboration of the interview questions. A semi-structured interview style was used because it allowedfor focused, conversational two-way communication which provided the research team with moreinformation and data beyond the scope of the interview questions which appeared to be limited attimes.The major findings in this study pertained to reported barriers from the participants, and the copingstrategies they use in everyday life. These barriers included

lack of knowledge

: one participant didnot know about any services on campus, for example;

institutional barriers

: two participants hadissues with institutional rules that inhibited access to a service;

stigma

: one participant had issueswith perceived stigma and two had issues with the public health care system as they are not used tothis in their home countries;

communication/language

: one participant wished for a service to bedelivered in his native language;

financial

: one participant had financial issues around paying for adiagnostic test. The latter half of the findings are the

coping strategies

used by the participants, theseinclude support networks such as parents, friends, academic/international advisors and residentialcommunities. Combined, these networks act as coping mechanisms to ease the academic andpersonal challenges associated with neurological disabilities and mental health issues.The coping strategies reported by the participants were powerful and inspiring stories about themechanisms these students use in everyday life to cope with the neurological or mental health illnessthey are living with. These stories and experiences were captured in our study but warrant furtheracademic exploration. Our contribution to this area is simply a starting point for the critical researchthat needs to follow. Section 6 provides a detailed list of recommendations we have prepared for theA&D office.